Stabilizer for aircraft.



D. 'McKlNLEY.

STABILIZER FOR AIRCRAFT. APPLICATIDNHLED Nov. 30. 1911.

Patented May 6,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET lnc you. n. c.

- 1,302,688, Patented May 6, 1919.

n. McKlNLEY. STABIUZER FOR AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30. 1917.

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movement of the same.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DENVER KOKINLEY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

s'rAmmzEn FOR AIRCRAFT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 30, 1917. Serial No. 204,734.

'State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Impmvements in Stabilizers for Aircraft, of which the following is a specific-ation.

The present invention relates to air craft, and more particularly to an improved type of stahilizier for use on the same.

An object of the present invention is to provide a stabilizer which comprises relatively few parts; which will not materially increase undue head resistance; which eliminates the use of shutters and other devices connnonly employed; which is automatic in actiong'and which does not depend upon the skill of the operator for controlling the The invention also aims at the pro-vision of a stabilizer with means; which is manually controlled for actuating the stabilizer against itsnormally impelling elements to adapt the stabilizer for nsein banking the air craft on curves and the like, and to facilitate the manual control of the stabilizer when de sired.

The above, and various other objects and advantages of this invention will be in part described, and in part understood, froni'the followin detailed description of the present preferre embodiment, the same being illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

11 is aa front elevation of an air cre ft 01E the biplane type having the improved stabilizer-ofthis invention applied thereto. 1

Fig. Qis a fragmentary enlarged transverse section th bfie' thsfcr arii end of the airshowin g th'epairts of the stabilizer mountedttereni;

Fi 3 isa fragmentary top plan view of the s iftabl aindoperatingelements of the stabilizer.

Fig. 4 i'sxe: side el'evii-tionof" the same, the casing- 01' body'of theeir craft-being broken ewe Fig-.5 is a' detail; enlarged, transverse sec tion' through the universal pendulum sup- Fig: 6 is a (lets-il enlarged fragmentary section of the connecting "block 7 employed.

Fig. 7 is'a" front elevation of the same,

peller 15.

showing the connecting plate mounted thereon and tilted at an angle with respect to the horizontal axis thereof.

' Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the manually operated device for controlling the action of the pendulum when desired.

Referring to these drawings, the stabilizer is disclosed as applied to an air craft of the usual bilanc type having the upper and lower panes 10 and 11 held in suitably spaced apart relation by braces 12 and provlded preferably upon the lower plane 11 with a longitudinally extending casing or body part 13.

Arranged axially in the casing 13 is the usual drive shaft 14 which may be rotated in any suitable manner, the shaft 14 projecting through the forward end of the casilig 13 and rovided thereat with aproonnted upon the shaftli, at preferably the forward end of the casing1'3, is a relatively large friction disl; 16 against the. forward face of whichbears a air of diametrically opposite disposed ric'tion wheels 17 having preferably non-circular axial openings the-rethrough adapted to fit upon laterally extending shafts 18f non-circular in cross section at their inner ends. The shafts 18 are mountedin suitable bearings 19 which rise froin'the lower plane 11 and are each provided u' on i'ts'outer end with a beveled gear whee 20 meshing with a correspondingly formed gear wheel 21 fired u .n a vertical shaft22. A Shift 2-2 is provided at each side of the aircraift, the

shafts 22 having hearing at opposite ends in sockets'23 secured against the inner faces of the planes 10 and 11. The 22-1101:- mall he in a vertlcal plane me erepro vided intermediate their ends with propel"- lers 24c, normally l ing in a; cmmnon horizontal plane and'a apted to be continuously rotated through the above de'scribed connections and the friction disklti.

Means is provided for automatically varying the relative speeds of rotation of the propellers 24. In the present instance, this means is aceo n lished by a'yokewhich connects the friction wheels 17 to ther, the yoke comprising a pair of arms 2 arranged beneath the gear wheel 17 and having forked upper extremities adapted to engage in peripheral grooves formed in the hubs of the wheels 17. The lower ends of the arms 25 are turned inwardly toward each other Patented Ma 6, 1919. a

and are seated in socket openings formed in the opposite ends of a connecting block 26, set screws 27 or the like, retaining the arms 25 to the block. The inturned ends of the arms 25 may be adjusted in the block 26 to adjustalily space apart the friction wheels 17. A pivoted block section 28 is arranged against the forward face of the block 26 and is held thereto by a screw 29 admitting of the swinging of the pivoted section 28 thereabout. The pivoted section 28 may be in the form of a fiat plate, as shown, having at its upper edge an outturned flange 30 through which is slidably disposed the upper end of a shifting lever 31. The lever 31 extends down through the casing 13 of the air craft and is preferably pivotally mounted in a bracket 32 at that portion passing through the lower wall of the casing, the bracket 32 being secured against the under side of the casing.

The air craft may be provided with the usual running gear comprising the depend ing supporting rods 33 in the lower ends of which is journaled a transverse shaft 34 supporting the landing wheels In a structure of this character, the shaft 34 is utilized for supporting certain parts of the present stabilizer, and as shown, a sleeve 36 is mounted to' slide longitudinally upon the shaft and is provided with an upstanding arm 37, The sleeve 36 is also provided with a peripheral groove in which the lower forked end of the shifting lever 31 engages. Preferably, the lower end of the shifting lever 31 is offset laterally with respect to the air craft to admit the suspension of a controlling pendulum 38 in substantially verti cal axial alinement with the drive shaft 14. The shaft 34 is provided, intermediate its ends, with a pair of spaced apart adjustable collars 39 between which is disposed a block 40 in the form of a sleeve mounted upon the shaft 34 to turn thereabout. As shown particularly in Fig. 5, the pendulum 38 is provided with an intermediate enlarged loop 41 adapted to surround the block or sleeve- 40 and pivotally connected at opposite sides thereto by pivot pins 42. The pivot pins 42 admit of the lateral swinging of the pendulum 38, and; the block 40 is free to turn upon the shaft 34 to admit of the longitudinal swinging of the pendulum 38. The upper end of the pendulum 38 is connected by a link 43 to the upper end of the arms 37 for the purpose of communicating the lateral swinging of the pendulum to the sleeve 36 to move the latter longitudinally upon the shaft 34. When the pendulum swings.longitudinally with respect to the air craft, .the arms 37 are carried with the pendulum and the sleeve 36 is free to turn about the shaft 34 with the block 40.

The pendulum and its parts comprises the automatic means for controlling the operation of the shifting lever 31, and means is also provided for manually controlling the operation of the lever 31 against the automatic action of the pendulum when desired. This manually controlled means comprises a pair of spaced apart transversely extending brace bars 44 between which the arms 25 are adapted to slide, the bars 44 having longitudinal slots near opposite ends and the arms 25 having transversely extending pins 45 adapted to enter the slots for supporting the arms. These brace bars 44 are used for supporting a bracket arm 46 which may be secured at its inner ends between the bars 44, and which projects forwardly therefrom. A spindle 47 depends from the forward end of the arm 46 and rotatably supports a bell-crank lever 48. One arm of the bell-crank lever 48 is longitudinally slotted, the slots opening through the end of the bell-crank lever and adapted to receive therein the upper extremity of the shifting lever 31. The other arm of the bell-crank lever 48 extends laterally toward the side of the casing 13 and has pivotal connection to a connecting rod 49 which extends along the inner side of the casing 13 to a point adjacent the seat of the operator. The rear end of the connecting rod 49 is pivoted to a hand lever 50. The hand lever 50 may be pivotally mounted at its lower end against. the inner side of the casing 13, may conform to the curvature of the inner wall of the casing 13, and may have its upper and engaging end bent in at an angle, as shown in Fig. 2, to facilitate grasping of the upper end of the lever 50 for manually swinging the bell-crank lever 48 and shifting the lever 31.

i In operation, when the air craft is in flight and equipped with the stabilizer of the present invention, the propellers 24, which are continuously driven, offer but little resistance to the forward movement of the craft. Should one side of the craft dip, the pendulum 38 will swing laterally about the pivot pins 42 and push the link 43 in an opposite direction to that in which the pendulum 38- moves. The sleeve 36 is thus shifted, and the lower end of the shifting lever 31 is swung laterally. Theup-per end of the shifting lever 31 bears against the flange 30 and swings the pivot member 28 about its pivot 29 and at the same time carries the block 26 to one side, moving the yoke 25 therewith and shiftin the pair of friction wheels 17. The sh1 ting of the friction wheels 17 affects the acceleration and speed of one of the propellers 24 and decreases the speed of rotation of the other propeller 24. When an air craft is tilted laterally the propeller 24 on the lower side thereof increases in speed .so as to offer greater vertical resistance at that side of the air craft and thus rights the same.

.Asthe stabiliizi-ngpropellem Beer-e comtiuuo-usly rotated, the stabilizer responds quickly to slightvariations in the lateral tilting of the ma. and the consequent swinging of the pend alarm 38, 'lhsere -i s; also no shock of vibration incident to thethiowing in oil gears or clutches, or incidentto the im act of acceleratony planes or shutters. he operation of the device is gradual and positive and at the same time: is automatic.

When it is desired to control the move ment of the shifting luv-c1931 by hand, it is only necessary for the operator to grasp the handle 50 and -move thesame-in the desired direction to swing the bell-crank lever 48 and thus move the upper end of the shifting lever 31. In this instance, the lower end of the shifting lever 31 moves the pendulum 38 against the force of gravity, and the pendulum 38 serves as a means for returning all of the parts to normal position when the handle 50 is released. Of course, the handle 50 moves idly when the pendulum 38 is free to operate. The weight 51 of the pendulum may be made of any desired size for the purpose of insuring the shifting of the friction wheels 17, whlle the mech anism disclosed may be of relatively light Wei ht. The inner ends of the laterally exten ing shafts 18 terminate in suitably spaced, apart relation to receive the drive shaft 14 therebetween, the driving shaft passing over the above described mechanism.

It is of course understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In air craft, the combination with a body part, provided with the usual running gear having a transverse landing wheel supporting shaft, of propellers arranged on the opposite sides of the body part, driving means for continuously operating said propellers, said driving means including a speed changing device, a pendulum suspended upon said shaft and adapted for universal movement thereon, and a connection between the pendulum and said speed changing means for shifting the latter upon the lateral swinging of the pendulum to change the relative speeds of rotation of said propellers and admit of the unchanged operation of the same u on the swin ing of the pendulum longitu inally of t e air craft.

2. In aircraft, the combination, with a body part provided with the usual running gear having a transverse landing wheel supporting shaft, of propellers arranged on the opposite sides of the body part,-driv'ing means for continuously operating; suulpxm peller's', said dniving means includmg a speed changing device, a pendulum suspended upon said shaft and adapted for-universal movement thereon, anda connection between the pendulum and said s d changing means to simultaneouslyish-i t the same latporting shaft, of propellers arranged on t 1e opposite sides of the body part, driving means for continuously operating said propellers, said drivingmeans including a speed changing device, a collar rotatably mounted upon said supporting shaft, means for preventing movement longitudinally of the shaft, a pendulum pivotally supported by said collar for swinging movement laterally of the aircraft independent of movement of the collar, and a connection between said pendulum and said speed changing device to simultaneously shift the speed changing device laterally in the direction in which said pendulum swings to increase the speed of rotation of the propeller lowered and decrease the speed of rotation of the raised propeller.

4. In aircraft, the combination, with a body part provided with the usual running gear, havin a transverse landing wheel supporting sha of continuously operatin stabilizing elements on opposite sides 0 said body part, operating means for said stabilizing elements, a pendulum suspended upon said shaft and adapted for universal movement thereon, and a connection between said pendulum and said operating means for act ing upon said operating means upon lateral swinging movement of the pendulum to accelerate the operation of the lower stabilizer element and retard the action of the raised stabilizin element.

5. In air craft, the combination with a body part provided with the usual running gear having a transverse landing wheel sup porting shaft, of continuously operating stabilizing elements on opposite sides of the body part, operating means for said stabilizing elements, a collar rotatably mounted upon said supporting shaft, means for pre venting movement of the collar longitudinally on the shaft, a pendulum pivotally supported by said collar for swinging movement laterally of the air craft independently and retard the action of the raised stabilizing element.

6. In air craft, the combination with a body part provided with the usual running gear having a transverse land Wheel supporting sha t, of continuously operating stabilizing elements on opposite sides of the body part, opera-ting means for said stabilizing elements, a collar rotatably mounted upon said supporting shaft, means for preventing movement of the collar longitudinally on the shaft, a pendulum pivotally. supported by said collar for swinging movement laterally of the air craft independently of movement of the collar and a connection between said pendulum and said operating means for acting upon said operating means upon lateral swinging of the pendulum to accelerate the operation of the lower stabilizer and retard the action of the raised stabilizing element, and manually operated means for controlling the operation of said stabilizing elements irrespective of movement of said pendulum.

DENVER MoKIN LE Y.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for live cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner 01' Patents Washington, D. 0. Y 

